This Unit Is Now Online
by Captain Buggles
Summary: Armin Arlert, a very talented but somewhat self-neglecting engineer, has just completed his finest creation yet: Mikasa, an android of incredible quality and realism. But Mikasa still has to learn about the world... and not all answers are found in a database. Especially when it comes to concepts like "emotions". Which she definitely doesn't have. No, not at all.
1. Chapter 1

**This Unit Is Now Online**

* * *

><p>A lone engineer stood in a large, cluttered, organized catastrophe of a a room, little more than a glorified garage.<p>

Streaks of oil and dirt and other miscellaneous stains adorned both the room's walls and the engineer's body, and there were countless shelves and hooks, all burgeoning with a diverse, although very unkempt assortment of all things mechanical and metallic.

The walls were made of cement; cold, cracked, and filthy. The floor was littered with screws, bolts and bits of wire, and wasn't much better to look at. It gave everything a sad, desolate sense, betraying the true magnitude of what the lone engineer had been doing in that room, day in, day out, for such a very long time. It masked the brilliance of it all behind a sense of pity and squalor; made the short, pale, scrawny blond in the center of the room look like he had no earthly business being there.

But nothing was further from the truth

The engineer stood beside a single sleek, ovoid pod. It was secured to the top of a large, metal table by large, powerful clamps. Compared to its gringy, grimy surroundings, it was truly a fine piece of work. About seven and a half feet long, and easily spacious enough to fit a human. The pod was undoubtedly the cleanest and most exceptional looking thing in the entire room, owing to both meticulous care and the fact that it usually rested safely in a chamber beneath the floor. It was carefully crafted from high quality metals, and filled to the brim with wiring, circuitry, hopes, and dreams. But it was not the pod itself that the engineer was most concerned about.

That distinction went to the contents of the pod. A girl looking to be in her late teens, to be more precise. Her hair was jet black, and shoulder- length. Her eyes were closed as if she were in a deep sleep. Her build was strong, but elegant and flexible, designed to take or even give punishment if the need ever arose. She was entirely nude, but for the engineer, this was the furthest thing from a time for indecent thought. When he looked down at her, all he could feel was elation and triumph.

Her smooth, pale, synthetic skin was a milky white, and already warm and pliable to the touch. A thick, bundled cable was connected to the back of her neck. A soft, comforting, vibrating hum could already be heard if you put your ear to her chest. The engineer unconsciously held his breath as he gently opened one of her eyes and pulled out a small penlight to shine into it. He smiled warmly as the pupil contracted without issue.

It was finally time for her to wake up.

The engineer pushed a small button on the table's side, raising it higher above the ground and allowing him easy access to a touchscreen keypad on the side of the pod. Although his fingers trembled, he took a deep breath and started rapidly typing. Lights flashed and things whirred and shifted as a holographic monitor popped up just above the keypad.

"All systems operational. Condition: Green. Vocal Authentication Needed." the monitor read in a light blue font.

"Shiganshina." the engineer said in a clear, firm tone.

"Authentication valid. Now activating Unit M-117454, Mr. Arlert." the monitor read. With a short whirring noise and a series of rhythmic clicks, the bundled cable detached from the android's neck and she sat stiffly upright in one swift, automatic motion. Her alert grey eyes snapped open, followed by subtle hues of red slowly seeping into her skin. She flexed each finger and toe once, one at a time, blinked twice, then deeply inhaled before slowly exhaling. She then turned to the engineer, staring at him momentarily before speaking.

"Greetings, individual. Please confirm again that you are the proper creator of this unit; Armin Arlert. Records indicate that no other individual has been authorized to activate this unit or forcibly coerce or manipulate Armin Arlert into doing so under any circumstances. Failure to provide conformation will activate all self-defense mechanisms at this unit's disposal." the android tonelessly instructed.

"I am Armin Arlert." Armin said, while holding his hand out to the android, who took it and scanned the fingerprints.

"Acknowledged. What is this unit's designated name, creator?"

"Mikasa." Armin responded.

"Acknowledged. What are the permanent objectives of this unit?"

Armin hesitated for a moment beneath Mikasa's unwavering stare, but he soon had a reply ready. "...1: Support and protect yourself at all costs. 2: Support and protect me at all costs. 3: Analyze and evaluate your surroundings and experiences to form your own objectives and directives. 4: Handle all situations with the appropriate amount of respect. That's all."

"3: Analyze and evaluate your surroundings and experiences to form your own objectives and directives. This unit requests clarification on this particular objective."

"It's just as it seems. Basically, that objective means I want you to learn. Learn more than just facts."

"Theories?" Mikasa inquired.

"More than that. Deeper than that. I want you to learn all you can, and apply that knowledge to yourself, and think about how it's all connected. You could call that... wisdom, I suppose. It's very important. Vital, even."

"...This unit warns you that the objective is not fully understood and you may not receive the desired results, creator."

"That's fine. Try your best. Fully understanding it is just another part of the objective." Armin said.

"Understood." Mikasa replied.

With a smile, Armin then signaled for Mikasa to follow him out of the garage and into his house. She climbed out of the pod and followed without issue, but she was still thinking about her third permanent objective, even as she began to map the small house out in her head. Even as she took note of the modest limp in Armin's walk. Even as she followed Armin up a flight of stairs and into a clean, organized, minimalist room, in stark contrast to the cluttered anarchy of the garage. The only things it had were beige walls, a plain closet, a simple desk, drawer, chair, and dresser, and a pod much like the one she had just gotten out of, but more padded and less complex.

"This is your room, Mikasa." Armin told her. She rapidly took it in and memorized the features of it as he quickly walked over to the closet and came back with a set of clothing.

"These are the clothes I'd like you to wear for now, but you may wear any other clothing available to you." Armin said, handing her underwear and a simple white dress.

"That should not be necessary. The clothes you have selected for this unit to wear are in serviceable condition." Mikasa said, as she began to slip the clothing on with impeccable ease and balance.

"You might think differently about it later." Armin said with a gentle smile. "And oh, uh...please wear this, too. I'd prefer that you not take it off unless necessary... It's... it's very important." Armin said, somewhat hesitantly handing Mikasa a simple, dark red scarf.

"Understood. In accordance with objective 3, may this unit ask why it is important?"

"...You wouldn't completely understand... Not yet." Armin weakly answered after a pregnant pause, not really sure what a more comfortable answer would be.

"A thorough attempt could be made."

"...Someone..picked it out for you. If you wear it, it means a lot to them." Armin vaguely explained.

"Are the opinions of that individual meant to be held in high regard?"

"...For me they are." Armin responded, his voice rather small and meek.

"Acknowledged." Mikasa said, as she put the scarf on. Armin could only look at her with a sad smile.

"Creator? Are you distressed? Do you wish to disregard that individual's opinions?" Mikasa asked.

"No..." Armin said, before hugging Mikasa, who simply continued to stand there, as unmoved as the floor beneath them. "I just...wish...t-they were...were here to see you..." Armin stammered. "They would've loved you, I know."

"Loved?" Mikasa asked.

"Yes, every single part of you."

"This unit does not understand."

"That's alright. I don't think anyone really does. Not entirely. It's a very large, fluid, abstract concept. And there just aren't words sufficient to explain it in a straightforward way."

"Why would they feel it if they can not understand it?" Mikasa asked.

For a while, only Armin's soft laughter could be heard before he answered. "Because they can't help it."

"Are they not capable of fixing that?"

"It's very difficult. Impossible, sometimes. And other times, it isn't something that needs fixing at all. You'll learn. And bit by bit, you'll understand." Armin said.

"Acknowledged."

"...Please try your best..." Armin told her in a fragile, hesitant way, as he gently stroked her hair. "If you do that... everything will turn out alright...don't forget it." Armin said, although his voice seemed less direct and more absent now, as he simply stared at the wall behind Mikasa. "_Yes... everything will turn out alright...don't forget it._" he whispered in his head.

"_As long as you know your place this time around."_he reminded himself. "_She's a creation, not a miracle._" he added.


	2. Chapter 2

**This Unit Is Now Online**  
><strong>Ch 2<strong>

After Armin had finished showing Mikasa her room, he took her around the rest of the house. The kitchen, the bathroom, the study, his room, even the closets… Mikasa paid close attention the entire time, wanting to work as efficiently as possible if and when she was given any household tasks. But by time they had completed the short tour of the relatively small and simple home, Mikasa still didn't have even the faintest idea of what she would find behind one particular door on the first floor. It seemed somewhat larger and much sturdier than the others, and Mikasa hypothesized that it probably had a somewhat different purpose, although she had no idea what that purpose was.

"What is behind that door, creator?" Mikasa asked, not even raising an eyebrow as Armin noticeably flinched and suddenly stood a bit straighter than usual.

"The basement, but that's nothing you need to be concerned with. That place will never be related to any your duties, so it's not something you should think about." Armin said rather quickly.

"Objective 3 states…" Mikasa started, trying to reason which order was of higher priority.

"Consider this an amendment to objective 3. Just don't think about that door, alright?" Armin said a bit more sweetly than necessary.

"Acknowledged." Mikasa said. Although she could very well imply he meant "either that door or the room on the other side of it", her desire to fulfill the broad learning requirements of objective 3 compelled her to take it a little more literally. For a brief moment, her eyes lit up with a steady, sky blue light, as she attempted to see through the door… Only to find that it was apparently impregnated with a solid sheet of lead, and she couldn't see anything. The same with the surrounding walls. That was… odd. Not only was it odd that there was a heavy lead door at all, but it was odd that her inability to see through it made her thoughts briefly react…oddly. Like she was missing something. Like she was just a tiny bit hollow. But still, it passed so quickly she hardly had time to process it. And just when she was waiting for Armin to say something else, someone knocked at the front door.

"I'll get it." Armin said, as he hurried off to answer it, only making the limp Mikasa had noticed earlier more pronounced. She'd have to ask about that soon. But for now, she simply stood and waited, since the front door and the basement were only a short hallway apart. Armin opened the door to reveal a significantly taller young man wearing a dark brown coat, plain black t-shirt, and a pair of faded blue jeans. He had a medium build, undercut light brown hair, slightly darker skin than Armin, and intense, light brown eyes.

"Oh, hi Jean! …Ahaha, sorry, I'm a bit of a mess right now, I didn't sleep last night." Armin said sheepishly, as he tried to wipe a smudge of dirt off of his face… which only made it smear even more.

"For the love of God, Armin! You need to work on things, not slave over them!" Jean chided, as he held up a couple of bulging plastic bags. "Anyway, got you some food. I know how you do the whole 'absentminded professor' thing and forget to eat." Jean said. "How's the leg, by the way?" he added on, glancing downwards.

"It's fine. Just a little accident, healing up fine." Armin said.

"If it was really bothering you, knowing you, you'd probably just chop it off and put on a cybernetic one without even saying anything." Jean teased.

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far!" Armin said with a giggle. "Come on in, I promise it's cleaner than I am in here. Plus, there's someone I want you to meet today!" Armin said. "Mikasa, come here please!" Mikasa swiftly complied, staring blankly at Jean.

"Damn, she's even better than the concept art…" Jean mumbled to Armin, who gently elbowed him in the side.

"…Greetings, individual." Mikasa said impassively.

"Mikasa, this is Jean Kirstein. Jean, this is Mikasa. Today is her birthday, I suppose you could say."

"What is your relationship to my creator, Mr. Kirstein?" Mikasa asked.

"I'm his friend, basically. I even helped create you. I drew what you'd look like!" Jean said, as he made his way over to a modest beige couch and roughly dropped himself on its cushions, then put the food he was carrying down on the hardwood floor.

"…Connie drew that, we scrapped yours... _You made the breasts too big..._" Armin said. His voice became small and low on the last part.

"I'm trying to make a good first impression here!" Jean complained.

"Please don't lie to her! She's very impressionable right now!" Armin cried.

"Fine, whatever. But seriously man, you've outdone yourself. What's she designed to do exactly, anyhow? I know you put her under General Purpose, but isn't she a little too… meticulous… for that?"

"I dunno, maybe she's Super General Purpose?" Armin answered sarcastically.

"Seriously." Jean replied.

"…Well, y'know. " Armin said vaguely.

"…Y'know what?" Jean said, eyebrow raised.

"Like Eren." Armin said meekly.

"Like HIM?!" Jean cried, eyes widening in surprise. "But I thought you- I thought he-"

"I've learned a lot since then, Jean." Armin murmured.

"No wonder you were never very specific." Jean grumbled, giving Mikasa an uncomfortable glare.

"She'll be different, Jean, really!" Armin protested.

"By different I'm hoping you mean better?" Jean asked, frowning and raising an eyebrow..

"Don't put it like that. It just… I just… wasn't prepared, is all." Armin weakly explained.

"God, you really are going to get yourself killed some day…" Jean groaned.

"Don't say that, you'll confuse Mikasa." Armin said.

"This unit has been ordered to protect Armin Arlert at all costs. There is an exceedingly high chance that he will not die." Mikasa stated.

"It's an expression." Jean said.

"May this unit suggest you attempt a more accurate one?" Mikasa said.

"That's literally the point of it being an expression, it doesn't have to be accurate." Jean responded in exasperation.

"…Acknowledged. Who is Eren?" Mikasa asked.

"A fucking bastard." Jean grumbled, more to himself than Mikasa.

"Jean!" Armin cried.

"…Eren is the offspring of unwed parents and currently engaged in the act of sexual intercourse? This unit came to a different conclusion." Mikasa stated.

"No, Eren is just… a very special person to me." Armin said with a sigh.

"From previous statements, this unit has inferred that Eren is also an android that you have created, creator. Is that correct?"

"…Yes." Armin mumbled.

"Acknowledged. What is the reason Mr. Kirstein implies that acting similar to Eren would have dangerous consequences? This unit believes safer decisions could be made if that reason is known."

"Pfft, I didn't come here to talk about trashed prototypes." Jean said, as he dismissively waved Mikasa off and turned away.

"Eren had a malfunction." Armin said quietly. "He lost the ability to follow objectives properly."

"And then what?" Mikasa asked.

"He had to be put away." Armin said as stoically as possible.

"Yup, they'll melt him down and make fancy spoons out of him." Jean said with a laugh. "Really sucks you didn't get more for scrapping him, Armin. He had more than a bit of gold in him and a lot of functioning parts, but I guess they always have been tightwads."

"Haha… yeah…" Armin responded, forcing a grin. Jean's comments made Mikasa feel a little strange, but she was learning so much she pressed on.

"This unit will not malfunction, creator. This unit is in serviceable condition. This unit will fulfill all objectives obediently." Mikasa wasn't exactly sure why she said that. Of course she was in serviceable condition. But… if she were to be scrapped, it logically followed that she would be unable to complete her objectives. Mikasa briefly thought of an existence in which she had failed her most important objectives, or an existence in which she lacked objectives entirely. It made her thoughts go fuzzy and erratic, giving her some kind of heavy, clenching sensation in her torso. If she could not complete objectives, then even spoons were more useful. The pure sentiment of Armin finding a spoon to be more useful than her was followed by another wave of invisible heaviness throughout her body, and caused a brief drop in overall efficiency. Mikasa wasn't sure why it stopped when she stopped thinking about that.

"How many hoops did you have to jump through to get enough funding for this one, anyway? They usually aren't so forgiving of screw-ups, even if you are an independent designer…" Jean said.

"The creator is in no position to jump through hoops with his leg in its current condition." Mikasa said.

"You really built yourself quite a card, huh Armin?"

"...What card are you referring to?" Mikasa asked with a calm that betrayed her sudden desire for her creator to provide a task that would allow her to stop interacting with Jean. Clearly, she was not a card. Her internal temperature had risen somewhat ever since she had started interacting with this 'Mr. Kirstein' individual. There were slight spasms in some of her muscle fibers as well. The things he said were always somewhat challenging to decipher.

"Haha… Anyway, Hanji said it was okay to try again, and she got me some extra clearance. She was really understanding about it." Armin explained.

"Wow, that's really nice of her. No wonder you had a crush on her."

"No I- That was a long- She's like twice my- ...Whatever, Jean!" Armin stammered.

"What is a crush?" Mikasa asked.

"It's when a human wants to do it with another human." Jean said with a giggle.

"…Creator wanted to crush objects with Hanji?" Mikasa asked, although by this point she knew she was probably wrong. It gave her a heavy, sluggish sensation and heavily interfered with her power regulation, making it seem as if she already needed recharging. For whatever reason, she momentarily slouched.

"Jean, please just stop." Armin muttered. "And Mikasa, you'll figure it out eventually." Armin said with a warm voice and a soft smile. Oddly enough, the sluggish sensation faded at the same time.

"Anyway, man, you should go take a shower or something." Jean said, while looking at Armin. "I'll put the food up for you." he continued, standing up and stretching.

"This unit can do that." Mikasa quickly said, roughly taking the untied plastic bags by their bottoms… which caused several cans of food and several assorted fruits to spill out and fall onto the floor.

"…Smooth." Jean muttered with a smirk. Mikasa's body temperature spiked immediately afterwards. The tone was obviously condescending, but what could he possibly mean simply by saying "smooth"? Her muscle fibers were spasming uncontrollably and more agitated than ever. She bent down, only to find she could hardly even pick the food up properly. Was this a glitch of some kind? Did 'Mr. Kirstein' come here to plant a virus on her? Perhaps he wasn't as trustworthy as Armin thought. Yes, it was surely disrespectful to go against her master's judgment, but Jean had only been saying very confusing things that caused irregularities in her proper function from the very start. Armin was also acting somewhat oddly. Perhaps this 'Mr. Kirstein' should not be in the household at all.

Mikasa reasoned she was being irrational. But the hot, agitated sensations just weren't going away… What did she _really_ know about humans? All the knowledge she had been pre-installed with? She was already well aware that someone besides her own benevolent creator could've woken her up and tried to use her for their own purposes. Could Mr. Kirstein be the same? "Hey, Armin, what's with your android…" Jean said, noticing her twitching.

"This unit will not malfunction. This unit has much higher functionality than a spoon." Mikasa muttered, as she gripped an apple. What was Mr. Kirstein even saying? She was processing so many things so suddenly, the situation should not have been so difficult… 'What' could not possibly be with her, 'what' was not an object capable of being with anything… And besides that, her face's temperature was rising more than ever. Her core was vibrating and humming far more intensely than it had any right to be. _Threat Detected. Strength Usage Now 300% Above Baseline Levels. _What? Why? She never meant to- Suddenly, she felt her joints shifting gears and her muscles tensing. And even more of that odd raising body temperature… Then finally, the soft, moist sensation of a crushed apple in her hand. A hollow, sinking sensation followed.

"…What's going on?" Jean asked. "Seriously Armin, she's broken or something!"

"This unit is fully functional. This unit is fully functional. This unit is fully functional." Mikasa said repetitively. It was true, after all. Her eyes were glowing brightly and her coolant was pumping full speed as she operated her system scans as fast as possible, but she wasn't finding a single thing.

"Mikasa, everything is alright. Slow your extraneous thought processes one at a time." Armin said softly, as he gently placed a hand on Mikasa's shoulder. But it wasn't alright. She had failed the simple task of transporting food in plastic bags. There was clearly only one logical reason for such a severe flaw in her performance so soon after her initial activation...

"This unit has suspicions that Jean Kirstein is responsible for the programming and covert installation of a performance degrading virus." Mikasa said. She shot bolt upright as her limbs shifted in a smooth, fluid motion, fully exposing her metallic joints. At the same time, dozens of angular, branching, glowing, sky blue lines appeared on her skin. Those on her limbs radiated from her torso, and those on her face radiated from her eyes, giving the android girl a somewhat eerie feel. "Defense mechanisms active." Mikasa blankly announced, as her nails extended to three inches each and began to glow with incredible heat.

"Mikasa!" Armin cried, as he nervously took several steps back.

"What the hell?! What's she DOING, Armin?!" Jean cried, quickly jumping off of the couch and backing as far away as possible.

"Mikasa! Do not harm Jean! That's an order!" Armin cried.

Just as quickly as it had all started, it ended. Mikasa's joints became hidden again, the lines disappeared, her eyes stopped glowing, and her nails were normal again.

"Sincerest apologies, creator and Mr. Kirstein. This unit has irresponsibly handled a situation." Mikasa said, before slumping to the floor. "This unit fully accepts whatever punishment this unit's creator believes to be in order. This unit has higher functionality than a spoon."

"Jean…I think you should go. Thank you for the food, though." Armin said apologetically.

"Y-yeah." Jean said, as he cautiously crept towards the door. "L-later, Armin." he said, before both closing the door and walking away at a rather hurried, erratic pace, his eyes wide and his mouth clenched as if he were stifling a scream.

"Mikasa…" Armin said, slowly and gently.

"What is the punishment, creator?" Mikasa asked lowly. Her body was so heavy it seemed like she wouldn't be able to stand. Why was she so conscious of Armin's gaze? Why were her thoughts still so disorganized and difficult to keep track of?

"There is no punishment, Mikasa." Armin said softly, as he pulled Mikasa to her feet.

"Why?" Mikasa asked immediately.

"That was just learning. You are still new. It's quite alright." Armin said patiently.

"…How often does Mr. Kirstein come over?" Mikasa asked.

"At least once a week. It depends on his schedule and if he thinks he should." Armin answered.

"This unit is fully active now. Therefore, this unit does not believe that is necessary any longer. Perhaps Mr. Kirstein should visit less often to attend to his own matters more efficiently. Perhaps once a month. Perhaps twice a year. Perhaps never."

"I'll tell him to be more careful next time." Armin reassured her, with a soft chuckle. "But social acclimation is important for your development."

For some reason, the thought of further social interaction with Mr. Kirstein was not something Mikasa strongly desired, so she simply moved on. "This unit believes it is capable of properly transporting the bags now." Mikasa said, noting her diagnostics were all back within optimal range.

"Okay then." Armin said warmly. With minimal effort, Mikasa picked up the bags and put the food away properly, threw the ruined apple away, and located the cleaning supplies to wipe up the remains. Armin couldn't help but smile knowingly as he watched. Today had already been a very interesting day.

"However, creator. Mr. Kirstein was correct about one thing." Mikasa said, as she scrubbed the floor with a damp cloth.

"What's that?" Armin asked.

"It would benefit you to shower as soon as possible." Mikasa said.

"…Alright. Good job today, Mikasa. Regardless of what you may believe." Armin said with a giggle, as he started to head upstairs to the main bathroom.

Mikasa couldn't understand. Her body temperature was suddenly rising again… But somehow, it was different. Her musculature was more relaxed and her coolant circulation was optimal. And this time, she didn't particularly mind it at all.


End file.
